Tom Basden’s Scariest ‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’ Ask: Carey Mulligan’s Mumford & Sons Husband Hearing His Songs

Writing songs for the gently bent comedy “The Ballad of Wallis Island” was a tricky job for British actor, writer, musician and comedian Tom Basden. In the film, which he co-wrote with his comic partner Tim Key, Basden plays Herb McGwyer, one half of McGwyer Mortimer, a semi-legendary folk duo lured to a small island off the coast of Wales to play a private gig for what turns out to be an audience of one: Charles Heath (Key), an eccentric widower and sad-sack two-time lottery winner who used his windfall to isolate himself and obsess over getting the duo back together for his solitary enjoyment.

In the story, which spins…